St. Anne public novena prays for family life, God’s ‘greatest gift’

Retired Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel F. Walsh, who lives at St. Anne Parish, pauses with the monstrance at each corner surrounding the parish to pray for the needs of the community. (Photo by Christina Gray/Catholic San Francisco)

July 26, 2018 Christina Gray

On the fourth day of its 111th Novena to Good St. Anne, St. Anne of the Sunset Parish held a morning Mass followed by a solemn procession that paused at the corners of the square block the parish occupies to pray for the sick at the nearby University of San Francisco Medical Center, the homeless in Golden Gate Park and the families that live in the surrounding neighborhood of 850 Judah St.

Of the 60 or so people who attended the July 21 novena, many came in wheelchairs pushed by caretakers or family members or made the procession with walkers and canes.

St. Anne Parish was founded in 1904. Four years later in 1908 the first pastor, Father Joseph McCue, introduced the novena which has been held every year since, according to the parish website. In 1911, the Redemptorist missionaries were invited to St. Anne to preach the novena.

“The prayers of Good St. Anne are indeed powerful,” said Redemptorist Father John Schmidt, homilist, who said he flew in from St. Louis for the novena. Growing up in the Bay Area, he recalled talking to his parents and their friends about the long-running novena.

“They came to the novena at St. Anne at one point to pray to find a spouse and later to pray for help with their kids,” he said to laughter. “It worked.”

Each year the St. Anne novena brings the faithful together asking a special favor. This year it was for family life under the theme “The Joy of Love in the Family.” This comes from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on love, marriage and family life, “Amoris Laetitia.”

“The community that is nurtured here as a sign of the church in prayer is the greatest gift that we have,” he said. “Our theme is a reminder of ever present love of God in so many ways but particularly in the family.”

The Novena to Good St. Anne began on July 18 and ends on the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne on July 26.

Following a July 21 Mass, Father Peter Zhai sets out in a solemn procession venerating St. Anne from the Sunset District church dedicated to her name. (Photo courtesy Ernesto Cuello)

Banners were held by parishioners representing the ministries of St. Anne Parish during a solemn procession following a Mass July 21. Many of those who attended the novena made the procession in wheelchairs or aided by walkers or canes. (Photos by Christina Gray/Catholic San Francisco)